Apparatus and method for casting metal products



A, TT. RowE. I APPARATUS AND METHOD Toa cAsTTNG METAL PRonucTs. h APPLICATION FILE MAY 3,1921. 1,399,'9 Patented Dec. 13, 192L altozmg A. R. ROWE.

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CASTING METAL PRODUCTS. APPLICATION FILED III/w3, I92I.

autres vs'rxrlas PATENT OFFICE.

AN' DREW R. ROWE, OF PORTSMOUTH, OHIO.

Application led May 3,

To all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, ANDREW vR. Rown, a citizen of the United States, residing at 1908 21st street, Portsmouth, in -the county of Scioto land State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus and Methods for Casting Metal Products, of whichthe following is a speciication.

This invention relates to improvements in devices for casting iron and steel ingots and other metal products and the primary object of the invention is to furnisha novel molding device or mold attachment which will eliminate defects now found in molding molten metals.

In the manufacture of iron and steeland other metal products, especially high carbon steel, great diiculties are encountered in casting solid compact ingotsdue to the formation of blow-holes and pipe, which are formed in the process of pouring and during the period of solidification.

Blow-holes or bubbles caused by trapped gases in the cast metal, it is'found, do not always weld during subsequent rolling of the metal.

When the metal is rst poured in the mold, the mold being cold, the metal freezes to the mold. In other words, the ingot due to the difference in temperature between the metal and the mold, shrinks away from the center toward the sides of the mold. When the pouring of the ingot is finished, the top freezes over, the metal shrinking toward the sides causing a sinkhead or gas pocket due to the fact that the metal freezing on top does not allow sulicient metal to ill the shrinkage cavity formed during the period of solidiication.

In the ordinary method of pourin ingots, the metal is discharged from `a adle. The ladle may contain as high-as one hundred tons of metal,l `the ladle nozzle usually being from two to three inches in diameter through which the metal is poured into the mold. Due to the uantity of vmetal in the ladle, itis evident t at there is a heavy head` pressure on the metal issuing. from the ladle nozzle, and as the metal rises 4111 the mold, this stream, due tothe heavy head Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 13, 1921.

1921. Serial No. 466,564.

pressure, forces itself to a considerable depth Into the metal already poured into the mold, and this causes the slag and impur1t1es which may come to the surface to be forced dQwn again into the metal in the mold, and gases in the form of blow-holes forced deep into the metal cannot rise to the surface readily until the stream from the ladle is shut oli". Some of the blow-holes or gases are forced too deep into the metal to again rise to the surface, and the top freezing over quickly traps the gases within 'the metal and prevents their escape.

There are known methods in practice which lessen the liability of blow-holes, in .the metal ingot, and to a certain extent elimmate pipe, but they are usually such that they entail greatv overhead expense and retard production.

.The method and apparatus forming the subject-matter of the present invention may be used with very little added expense over the common or ordinary method and apparatus used in pouring metals and without retarding production.

The invention will be described in detail in connection with the accompanying drawin s, in which:

igure 1 is a detail sectional view of an 80 ordinary mold :illustrating the manner in which the jet of metal from the ladle nozzle penetrates the metal in the mold and causes .blow-holes, pipe, 'sinkheads or gas pockets and the like.

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a mold with my improved attachment applied thereto and illustrating the manner in which the heavy head pressure in the ladle is counteracted so that=relatively small jets of metal will fall into the mold without an cxcess'of head pressure. A

Fig. v3 is a similar view illustrating a mold provided with my attachment and showing the oat valve with which my at tachment is equi ped, raised by the metal which has been eposited in the mold.

Fig. 4 isa sectional view of a mold with a modified form of my attachment' ap lied thereto and showing'the operation o the sin before the mold has been entirely e c will be seen that a relatively large jet or stream 3 with considerable head pressure behind it flows downwardly into the mold .1.- Owing to the head pressure on the ]et 3 said jet will penetrate to a considerable distance below the surface of the metal in the mold and will cause the blow-holes or trapped gases 4 to be forced beneath the surface of the metal and to remain in the position t o which they are forced. In addition to this the difference in temperature between the molten metal and the mold 1 will cause the top of the metal in the mold t o freeze or quickly solidify when the pouring 1s complete and this will cause a sinkhead or gas pocket 5 to be formed at the upper end of the cast ingot.

It is to eliminate these defects in the known molding device and method that I have'provided my improvements which will now be described:

Referring to Figs. 2, 3 and 6, 1a designates the mold to which I attach a tubular reservoir 6 which is provided with an external shoulder 7 designed to rest on the upper edge of the mold, and a tubular extension 8 which projects into the mold. At the lower end of the tubular body 1 I provide an in- `wardly extending annular fia-nge 9 which supports a float valve 10 having a plurality of apertures 11. Ifdesired, the tubular body may be surrounded by a reinforcing metal band or jacket 12 which in a measure, protects the body 6 that is preferablyv formed of refractory material.

The body 6 is also preferably provided 4with gas vents 13 which extend from the top to the bottom of the body and function to release gases from the mold as the metal is poured into the same.

With this form of the invention the metal from the ladle will be poured through the nozzle 2' and will enter the reservoir where a portion of the same will accumulate. This small body 14 of the metal within the reservoir will flow through the apertures 11 in the valve 10 and these small streams will not penetrate into the metal in the mold to any great extent, and the gases rising from the metal 1n the mold will not be interfered with Iby these small streams. Hence no blow-holes or pipe will be left in the cast ngot.

metal which is cast in the mold will be free` of blow-holes and pipe The embodiment illustrated in Figs.` 4, l5

and 7 carries out the same result as the device shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 6, but inffthis instance the mold 1b is preferably provided near its upper end with an internal annular shoulder 1c on which rests the lower end of the reservoir 6a. This reservoir is preferably provided with a solid or `imperforate float valve 10a which normally engages a seat provided in an inwardly extending annular ledge or yflange 10". In this form instead of discharging the metal through the valve, I discharge the same through apertures or ports 11 provided in the ledge 10b. Gas vents 13a are also provided in this construction. The operation of the modified form of the invention is the same as that described in connection with the other form with the exception that the metal flows from the reservoir 6a throu h ports provided in the reservoir instead 0 in the valve.

The reservoir and float valve are preferably made of some refractory material, such as fire-clay, brick, or material that is heated quickly and does not rob the metal of but very little of its original heat.

The size of the holes in the reservoir or oating valve are to be determined by the size of the pouring nozzle of the ladle. l

Reverting again to the operation of the device, tlie metal is poured from the ladle into the reservoir and it then drains through the holes in the reservoir or oatin valve into the mold proper, this eliminatlng the heavy head pressure from penetrating or forcing the metal into the body of metal contained in the mold, confining the same to the reservoir and allowing the metal to flow through the holes without any penetrating effect upon the metal as itrises in the mold. I preferably provide.the apertures in the reservoir or oating valve at points off the center of the mold, so that the streams drainlng down allows the center of the ingot or metal, which is'the hottest part of the metal, to freely discharge gases or air and thus form a more solid and compact ingot. It may be readily seen that by pourmg the metal into the reservoir that a great portion of the gases escape from the metal in the reservoir before the metalenters the mold, andy voir are both filled, will lose none lof its original heat through contact with the walls of the reservoir and .when the stream is shut off in the ladle the oating valve which is lighter than the metal,"and being avforeign substance from the metal, will rise to the top of the reservoir as before described. The reservoir, which has become highly heated during the pouring of the metal, Will retain the heat on the top or upper portion of the ingot for a longer period than has so far been obtained without using any expensive fuels or gases.

By eliminating the heavy head pressure back of the stream of metal and confining the same to they reservoir lthe mold proper is allowed to ll without any danger of splash which oftentimes freezes to the mold and does not Weld to the ingot as is desired,

leaving a scabby surface on the ingot which' is objectionable. l

.The mold proper being fed by the small streams or jets with little or no head pressure allows the metal to rise in the mold evenly and at the same time gives the `:rases and .impurities a betterchance to' reach the surface. When theA mold and reservoir are lled and solidiication starts, the metal in the upper portion of the reservoir will readily supply the shrinkage cavity and confine the sinkhead to the reservoir, thus provlding a compact solid ingot.

The floating valve which rests on the lugs of the reservoir i lmay vbe square, oblong, round or any shape desired. The valve may also be flat, arched or convexed and the edge which ts in the valve seat should be tapered and smooth and the valve seat should also be simple alteration of the internal shoulder 1c "iso as shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 7.

Most plants or concerns that make high carboningots in particular, are obliged to use a separate method or different molds, for instance, large end of mold inverted or .mold inverted after the pouring, movable walls, and methods for liquid forging, vibrators or apparatus for stirrin and various other methods which necessltate heavy expenditures, changes in stripping apparatus resultinfr in loss of time and retarding production.

1th the present method, the same molds may be used for soft `steel or highcarbon steel without loss of time or without'retardingproduction and with increased eiliciency in regardto production or per cent.. of steel free from pipe per ingot.

invention may be readily appreciated by" those skilled in the art, and I am aware that various changes may be made in the constructions illustrated and described without departing from the spirit of the invention as ex ressed in the following claims.

at I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is: j

1. A method of depositing materials inda mold which consists in providing an open top body for the material in the upper end of the mold, discharging material into said body in a relatively large jet, discharging material from the body into the mold in relatively small streams and conducting the air from'the mold around the exterior of the material in the body.

2. A method of depositing molten metal in molds which consists in discharging a relatively large stream of molten metal into an open top body intercepting this stream of metal in the body before it reaches the mold and forming a pool of the metal, discharging the metal from said pool into the mold in relatively small streams and conducting the air from the mold around the exterior of the metal pool.

' 3. A method as set forth in claim 2in sov which gases are discharged fromthe mold near the completion of the `lling of the mold.

5. A method as set forth in claim 2in which the relatively small streams enter the mold at points spaced from the axis of the mold.

6. An apparatus for molding metal com prising a mold, a reservoir member provided at the upper end of said mold, a float valve member coperating with the reservoir member, and apertures provided in one of said members for discharging metal from the reservoir into said mold. v

7. An apparatus. of the kinddefined by claim 6 in which the reservoir is provided with gas vents to permit the escape of gases from the mold.

8. 'An apparatus of the kind defined by claim 6 in which the reservoir and valve are formed of refractory material.

9. An apparatus of the kind defined by claim 6 in which the reservoir is provided with a metal jacket.

10. An apparatus of the kind defined by claim 6 in which the lower end of the reservoir projects into the upper end of the mold.

11. A pouring attachment for molds comprising a reservoir provided at its lower end with a floating valve, apertures provlded loo Yals.

in the reservoir lfor discharging metal from the same'into a mold, and gas Vents formed in the reservoir for permittlng the discharge ofl gases from the mold.

12. A pouring attachment for use with a metal mold comprising a tubular reservoir member provided at its lower end with an inwardly extending annular ange, a float Valve member normally resting on said flange, and apertures provided' in one of said members for discharging metal from the reservoir into a mold.

13. An attachment of the kind defined by claim 12 in which the reservoir is provided with gas vents.

14. An attachment of the kind defined by claim 12 in which the reservoir member is surrounded by a metal jacket.

In testimony whereof I aix my si nature.

ANDREW R. R WE. 

